Spectacular Light Switch Not Grounded

Electrical wiring in some older homes does not have a ground wire for outlets ans switches and some older homes have ground wires that are bonded behind the electrical box.

Light switch not grounded. Then if it looks feasible simple go ahead and connect the light circuit dimmer light to the gfci load terminals as previously described. Do this to the ground wire be. Instead your biggest problem is that you don t have a gfci outlet.

Because each new edition may take several years to be adopted it might not have gone into effect in your area until a few years later than 1999. Some of you electricians who have access to the nfpa s 1998 report on comments roc or the committe report on proposals rop might be able to add to the logic behind the grounding switches. The big problem the op has is that all the grounds are not tied together.

If the box is not metal and a ground wire is not available in the. Light switches have been required to be grounded since the 1999 edition of the national electrical code. There really isn t much risk if it s not grounded and or protected from ground faults.

That was probably put in the 1999 code to provide for grounding of metal plates. Light fixtures and the ground wire. All switches make contact with the junction box through the plate they are screwed in with.

I would definitely get the repair done if the faceplates are metal or replace the faceplates with plastic. So any light switch installed since your local ahj authority having jurisdiction or in other words the building department adopted the 1999 nec should be grounded. From a practicality point of view and code in some places switches do not have to be grounded if the junction box is metal and the junction box is grounded.

Even if this not the case there is no real shock or fire risk as long as the faceplate is nonconducting. The big problem is not that the switches aren t grounded.